1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to apparatus for stacking and conveying container lids, and more particularly to a conveying assembly for the transfer of the lids from an upright vertical position, to a horizontal position on a moving conveyor belt.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A variety of automated machinery has been developed and is in use for the purpose of continuous conveyance of small manufactured articles, during their manufacture and preparatory to their shipment. In particular, continuous conveying and stacking apparatus is utilized in the manufacture and shipping of parts for various containers, and particularly the circular lids for plastic and metal containers, such as coffee cups, soft drink cans and the like.
Conveying apparatus is useful to transport container lids from the point of initial formation, to further work stations where printing, or embossing of the lids may take place, after which the lids are stacked or nested, and may be packaged for shipment. One particular type of container lid conveying apparatus utilizes the principle of gyroscopic precession, as outlined in U.S. Pat. No. 3,463,293, to Lederer, to stack the lids on their rims, and to maintain the lids closely adjacent and axially aligned with each other in motion, to facilitate transport and packaging.
Generally, while the lids may be maintained in the vertical plane as above described, certain intermediate processes are desired, that require that the lids be located in the horizontal position. Thus, conveying apparatus generally employ intermediate conveying means to transport the vertically stacked and spinning lids from the rotating infeed rods on which they are gyroscopically balanced, to a generally horizontal conveyor, where they are disposed in spaced apart relation. The problems associated with the present invention relate primarily to the instance where the container lids are fed into the apparatus and must be transported from the vertical to the horizontal position as above set forth.
To accomplish the transport of the lids in such manner, a variety of intermediate conveying assemblies have been proposed and are in use. Of those presently in use, one particular assembly utilizes a constantly oscillating knife edge that pries the forwardmost lid apart from the stack of vertically rotating lids disposed on the infeed rolls, and shunts it into a vertical track from which it is propelled into the horizontal position and onto a moving conveyor belt or the like.
The assembly described above has certain drawbacks, particularly in the instance where the conveyor is to be run at the high speeds desirable for commercial manufacturing conditions. For example, in the instance where the container lids are of the self locking type, these lids, by design, tend to nest with each other while positioned on the spinning rods, with the result that the oscillating knife is unable to cleanly separate the frontmost lid from the stack, and the frontmost lid is thus either propelled out of the assembly entirely, or is misfed and causes a jamming of the assembly. Also, the oscillating knife tends to stray from its path of vibration at high speed, with the result that it runs askew and thus fails to travel between the forwardmost container lid and the container lid next adjacent to it.
A need therefore exists for an orienting conveyor assembly that can operate smoothly and accurately at high speed.